


Stars

by DameRuth



Series: Better With Two [6]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Introspection, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:21:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24932185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DameRuth/pseuds/DameRuth
Summary: Sometimes the smallest things can echo the entire Universe; a pensive moment for Rose and Nine.[Continuing the Teaspoon imports, originally posted 2007.03.04. This could probably fit into "Bliss," actually, but for now I'll leave it out of sequence.]
Relationships: Ninth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Series: Better With Two [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1764040
Comments: 1
Kudos: 24





	Stars

**Author's Note:**

> Another one of those "missing moments," from sometime after "The Doctor Dances." Another song-inspired piece, that jumped into my head while I was washing dishes and Lucy Kaplansky's version of "Eyes of My Beholder" (one of my personal Nine/Rose "theme songs") was playing.
> 
> Since that's not a common song, a link to the lyrics is [here.](http://www.lyricsandsongs.com/song/350311.html)

Rose turned her face to the falling snow and stuck out her tongue. She held the pose for a moment, and then she laughed.  
  
“There are so many!” she said, “I can’t tell if I’m catching one or not!” She didn’t seem at all upset.  
  
The Doctor grinned at her. She was bundled up in a warm coat, and well-wrapped with a knit cap, scarf and gloves. The flakes were coming down fine and feathery — cold enough to be perfect flakes, but not cold enough to go to powder. As the flakes landed on Rose, they paused for a moment and then melted, turning to tiny, glittering droplets on her hat and coat. The effect was lovely.  
  
The Doctor reached out a gloved hand (he, too was wearing mittens and a scarf — not because he needed them, but because Rose had been worried about him in the cold — him, of all people!), and caught a handful of the tiny flakes.  
  
“What’s more fun, when the temperature’s just right like this, is catching them, and looking at them.” He held out a handful of tiny, intricate stars for her to see.  
  
Rose bent forward, frowning, and then her eyebrows went up. “Oh!” she breathed with delight. The warmth of her breath puffed out, and the stars melted to bright droplets.  
  
She jerked back, startled, with a disappointed expression.  
  
The Doctor laughed. “Don’t worry,” he told her, “plenty more where those came from!” He caught another handful for her.  
  
Rose admired them, then tried catching a few herself, but they melted faster in her hands, even through gloves — thanks to her higher body temperature — so she gave up and let the Doctor catch them for her. He didn’t mind in the slightest. Her wonder and pleasure were infectious.  
  
“They really do look like, well, snowflakes,” she said, amazed. “I’d never really seen — we don’t get a lot of snow in London . . .”  
  
“And it’s usually too warm,” he told her. “The flakes start melting before they reach the ground. Have to be somewhere like this, to see the crystal structures regularly.”  
  
Reminded, Rose looked around. They were on a gentle slope — a mountainside, actually, though with the clouds muffling them in, that wasn’t obvious. The slope was dotted with pine and fir trees, turned into perfect Christmas decorations by the snow piled on their branches. Everything was mounded whiteness and falling stars, as far as the limit of visibility.  
  
“All those snowflakes,” she said, in a hushed, thoughtful voice. “And every one of ‘em’s beautiful, and every one of ‘em’s different . . .” He could see the immensity of it strike her, the wonder of it all, an intimation of the size and intricacy of the Universe. It was all reflected in her eyes, and he thought, just then, she was more beautiful than a billion snowflakes.  
  
“It’s the same for stars — real stars,” he told her, his voice gentle. “And planets, and people. All beautiful, all different.”  
  
Her face glowed, gaze unfocused, inward, picturing it. Watching her, the Doctor remembered how it had felt, the conceptual vistas opening up, becoming more than just words, becoming real.  
  
Her focus snapped back to the outside world, and she looked into his face, grinning and delighted, She laughed, and gave him a sudden, heartfelt hug.  
  
“Thank you!” she said into the front of his coat, the words muffled.  
  
“It’s just snowflakes, Rose,” he told her, teasing.  
  
“Oh, you . . .!” she laughed again and pulled back, but caught his hand as she did so.  
  
Suddenly inspired, he spun her in a quick pirouette; reading him perfectly, she followed the movement, and for just a moment, she spun as lightly as a snowflake, kicking up a spray of glittering sparks.  
  
She stopped, still grinning at him, still holding his hand — and then the grin wiped itself off her face, and she ducked just as an explosion of cold hit the back of the Doctor’s head and burst into a glittering spray. It was followed a second later by the sound of Jack’s laughter.  
  
“Bullseye!” Jack called.  
  
Rose straightened, and looked into the Doctor's face — then she grinned again, with her tongue between her teeth and a wicked sparkle in her eyes.  
  
“Let’s get ‘im!” she said.  
  
A few bits of snow had made their way down the collar of his coat, melting slowly. He started to be annoyed, but found himself grinning back at Rose instead. He dropped Rose’s hand and scooped up a handful of snow.  
  
“Right, Captain,” he yelled back, turning, “You’re for it now!” He started to run after Jack, who was beating a strategic retreat upslope, and knew Rose was right behind him. It was time to introduce Jack to the wonders of the Universe — preferably in the form of a snowbank, and preferably headfirst.  


* * *

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.  
  
This story archived at <http://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=10599>


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